Gas outlet box



' Mar 25 194%.. R. D. 2,236,104

GAS OUTLET BOX Filed NOV. l2, 1940 INVENTOR.

Patented Mar. 25, 1941 PATENT OFFICE p GAS OUTLET Box Robert D. McIntosh, River Forest, Ill., assignor to The Imperial Brass Manufacturing Company,

Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application 'November 12, 1940, sei-iai No. 365,318

6 Claims.

My invention relates to gas outlet boxes and particularly boxes which are ordinarily designed to be inserted in the Wall of a building and provided with a plate flush with thewall having a hinged aperture in it to give access to a gas valve for connecting it to some appliance within the building.

Among the objects of my invention is to provide the gas outlet unit which includes a gas valve positioned within an outlet box so constructed that the valve can be turned on only when a gas pipe is connected to the outlet of the valve.

Another object of my invention is to provide a gas outlet unit consisting of an outlet box and a gas valve mounted therein which has an automatic lock for holding the valve in closed position, the parts of which areV mounted entirely upon the body of the Valve itself and independ- 20 ent of cooperation with a lid covering an outlet aperture in the outlet box.

Still another object is to provide a gas Valve having an automatic locking device which maintains the valve in a locked closed position whenever there is no gas line attached to the outlet connection and which is designed to be unlocked only when a gas line is attached thereto.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrange- .'io ment and combination of the various parts of my device whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter' more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevational View of the gas outlet unit.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view on the line 4,() 3-3 of Figure l.

Figure 4 is a side section of the box portion on the line ll-ll of Figure 3, showing the side of the outlet valve body partly in plan View.

Figure 5 is a View similar to Figure 4, but with la a gas line attached to the valve outlet connection.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary front View of the gas Valve, showing a trip plate adjacent the outlet connection.

In providing gas outlet units which are mounted in the Wall of a building it is customarily advisable to have the unit near the floor of the room in which it is located. Theseunits are set into the wall in a manner similar to elec- 5,5A tric outlet boxes so that a cover plate or unit is substantially flush with the wall of the room.

Since gas used customarily for illuminating and heating purposes is often poisonous in character and often explosive in its nature when it leaks out into a room, it becomes very essential that the gas valve unit be so constructed that it cannot be inadvertently turned on, permitting gas to enter the room except when it is in use.

When gas units are near the door not only are they apt to be turned on or left on accidentally when the box is not in use, but also they are apt to be tampered with by children or persons not acquainted with the consequences of such an inadvertent turning on of combustible gas.

In addition, it becomes of commercial importance to have the valve itself consist of a unit capable of being locked in closed position when not in use and insertable as such within an outlet box of whatever character might be selected to accompany it and operable independently oi any part of the outlet box.

One embodiment of my invention devoted to the purposes and objects herein described is shown in the drawing where the character lil represents the bottom of an outlet box set in a building Wall l2 and which is provided with an upper wall I di, a lower wall I 5 and side walls I6 and Il. A cover plate I8 is attached to the open front side of the box by means of screws I9 threadably engaged with anges 2li of the outlet box.

On the cover plate is a lid 22 pivotally hinged at the point 24 and normally closing an outlet aperture 28 in the front of the cover plate. Also on the cover plate is a vertically elongated aperture 23 designed to receive a valve handle.

The gas valve itself comprises a body 3l] having an inlet connection 32 shown attached to a gas supply lineV 34` at the bottom of the box. The valve is provided with a threaded outlet connection 3B, a valve plug 33, a valve'stem 4u and a handle 42 on the valve stem.

An extension 39 of the valve plug extends outwardly on the side of the body opposite from the handle and is provided With a set of lock nuts 4l of conventional type positioned to confine a coiled spring 43 against the valve body to maintain the valve plug in seated position.

It will be noted that in this embodiment the handle is vertically elongated and lies within the aperture 28. Similarly the outlet connection lili coincides with the outlet aperture of the cover plate normally covered by the lid 22.

So that the valve may be maintained normally in a closed position a safety latch mechanism is provided consisting of a hook 44 pivotally mounted by means of the screw 45 to the body 30 on an axis parallel to the axis of the Valve stem. The hook has an interlocking shoulder 46 designed to normally engage an interlocking shoulder 48 on a thickened portion 50 of the valve stem. A spring 52 is provided to normally urge the hook in a direction so that the interlocking elements engage. An operating lever 54 forms the other end of the hook.

ln order to disengage the hook there is provided a trip element consisting of a trip plate 56 having an aperture 58 therein surrounding the outlet connection of thelvalve and supported by pins 60, the axes of which are parallel to the axis of the outlet connection. Coiled springs S2 are mounted on the pins between the trip plate and the body of the valve in such a position that they continually urge the plate outwardly against heads 64 of the pins.

The trip plate, of course, When pressure is exerted against the outer face, can be moved inwardly against the pressure of the springs 62 forcing the operating lever 54 of the hook inwardly, thereby tilting the hook and disengaging the elements 46 and 48. Upon disengagement the valve stern is released and can be turned to on position.

Normally the safety latch mechanism is designed to be shifted to unlocked position whenever a gas line is connected to the valve. As shown in Figure 5, a gas line 66 is attached to the outlet connection 36 by means of a fitting 63. When the fitting 58 is screwed upon the outlet connection it moves from left to ri-ght as viewed in Figure 5, and eventually comes into contact with the outer face of the trip plate 56. As the fitting continues to be screwed on in order to tighten the gas line to the outlet connection it shifts the trip plate from left to right against the compression of the springs 62 and against the operating lever 54 of the hook, thereby disengaging the elements 46 and 48.

In operation, the gas outlet unit is normally inserted in a wall as shown in Figures l and 2. rlhe lid 22 is normally tilted downwardly by gravity to the position shown in Figure 2. In this position an opening 23 permits passage of air into the interior of the box for the purpose of ventilation and also provides a finger hold by means of which the lid can be lifted when desired. After the box has been positioned in the building Wall the inlet connection of the valve is screwed into the gas inlet line 34 and a resilient gasket 35 is provided in order to seal the aperture at the bottom of the box through which the inlet connection extends so that any possible leak in the gas valve may not be diverted to within the walls of the building.

In normal position the valve handle 42 extends downwardly and the latch mechanism is so positioned that the valve stem is locked in closed position. When the connection is to be made the lid 22 is lifted and a gas line 66 attached to the valve outlet connection by means of a fitting B5. When this attachment has been completed the latch mechanism will be shifted so that the hook is lifted as shown in Figure 5. After this the valve handle 42 can be shifted from the dotl and dash position of Figure to the dotted position 42', thereby opening the gas valve and permitting gas to pass from the gas inlet line to the gas line 86.

So long as the fitting 68 is in place the handle 42 can he shifted to on and off position at will. As soon, however, as the fitting 58 has been removed, the lid 42 will fall back into place and the valve handle can no longer be lifted from a closed position to an open position.

There has thus been provided a gas outlet unit including a safety latch mechanism which is normally closed and remains closed at all times regardless of whether the outlet box lid may be opened or not so long as a gas line is unattaohed to the outlet connection of the valve, and when such connection is made the valve can be opened and closed at will so long as the connection remains complete.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my device without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure, or use of mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

l. A gas outlet unit comprising a gas valve including an inlet connection, lan outlet connection, a valve stem and handle land =a fitting on said outlet connection for connecting a gas line thereto, a spring pressed detent on the body normally engaging and locking said stem in valve closing position :and a trip member on the valve body cooperating with `the detent having a position `adapted to be actuated by s-aid fitting when the fitting is attached to the outlet connection for releasing said detent .to permit the Valve to be turned on.

2. A gas outlet unit comprising a gas valve having a body, an inlet connection, an outlet connection, a valve stem and a handle, said outlet connection ybeing yadapt/ed .to have a fitting attached thereto for connecting a gas line, a pivoted detentl mounted on the body normally engaging and locking the valve stem in closed position, and a spring pressed trip element having a normal position released from operative en-- gagement with the detent 4and occupying a -portion of the space lled .by said fitting when connected to the outlet connection, said trip element having a position operatively engaged with the detent wherein said valve stem is released from said locked position when the fitting is connected to the outlet connection.

3. A gas outlet unit including a gas valve comprising a body having a threaded inlet extension for connection to a gas line, a threaded outletconnection adapted .to the reception of a fitting for securing a gas line thereto, a valve in the body having a valve stem thereon and a handle, and a safety latch mechanism including a spring pressed detent pivotally mounted on the body adjacent fthe handle having an element engaging a corresponding elem-ent on the handle in normal closed position for `the valve, and a spring pressed trip element mounted on the body and having a portion thereof movable to and away from said outlet, said trip element having a normal position in the path of said fitting and having an operative position pressed toward the valve body by said fitting wherein said detent is shifted to a position disengaging the handle to permit said valve to be turned on.

4. A gas outlet unit including a gas valve comprising a body having a threaded inlet for connection to a gas line, a threaded outlet adapted to receive a fitting for connecting a g-as line, a valve in the body and a valve stem thereon having a handle, and a safety latch mechanism including a spring press-ed hook pivotally mounted on the :body adjacent the handle having an engagement with a portion of the handle in closed position for the valve, a support on said body and a spring pressed trip element .having a portion thereof positioned around the outlet connection sildably mounted on the support, having a normal position in the path of said iitting, said trip element having an operative position pressed toward the valve body by said fitting wherein said hook is shifted to .a position disengaging the handle to permit said valve tot be turned on.

5. A gas outlet unit including a box, a cover plate for the box having an aperture for a valve outlet, a hinged lid for said valve outlet aperture, a gas valve in the box comprising a body having a threaded inlet extension for connection to a 'gas line, a threaded outlet connection adapted to receive a fitting for connecting a gas line having a position opposite the valve outlet aperture when the valve is in place, a valve in the body having a valve stem and a handle thereon, and a safety latch mechanism including a hook pivotally mounted on .the body adjacent the handle having a spring pressed hook engaging a corresponding hook element on the handle in normal closed position for the valve, a pin -on said body extending .toward said outlet connection, a` coiled spring on said pin and a trip element having :a portion thereof around the outlet connections slidably mounted on .the pin and secured th-ereon in position against said spring, 'said trip lelement having a normal position in Ithe path of said fitting and having an operative position pressed toward the valve body by said fitting wherein said hook is shifted to a position disengaging the handle to permit said valve to be turned on.

6. A gas outlet unit including a box for mounting in a building Wa'll, :a cover plate for the box having an aperture .therein for :a valve handle and a second aperture for a valve outlet, a hinged lid for said valve outlet aperture, and a gas valve in the box comprising a body having a threaded inlet `for connection lto a gas line, a threaded outlet having a position opposite the valve outlet aperture when the valve is in place adapted to have a gas line fitting attached thereto, a valve stem having a position laterally relative to the body and a handle thereon extending into said handle aperture of the cover plate, and a safety latch mechanism including a spring pressed hook pivotally mounted on the .body adjacent the hancile having .an interlocking element engaging a cor-responding interlocking element on the handle in normal 4closed position for the valve and an operating lever, pins on said body extending toward said outlet connection, coiled springs on said respective pins and a trip element having an aperture therein surrounding the out-let connection slidable longitudinally on the pins and secured thereon in position against said springs, said trip Ielement having an initial position in the .path of said fitting and Ian operative position pressed toward the valve body by said tting wherein said hook is shifted to a position disengaging the handle to permit said valve to be turned on.

ROBERT D. MCINTOSH. 

